1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a liquid discharge head that discharges a liquid such as ink to perform recording on a recording medium and a recording apparatus using the same, and more particularly to a liquid discharge head and a recording apparatus that perform ink jet recording.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 9 illustrates a conventional ink jet recording head (hereinafter referred to as a recording head) 1 used in an ink jet recording apparatus that discharges ink toward a recording medium such as paper, plastic sheets, and overhead projector (OHP) sheets to perform recording based on recording information (U.S. Pat. No. 6,910,759).
The recording head 1 illustrated in FIG. 9 includes recording element substrates 2 and 3 for discharging ink from a discharge port, and an ink supply unit 15, having an ink supply path formed therein, for supplying ink to the recording element substrates 2 and 3 from an ink tank (not illustrated), which is detachably attached to the recording head 1. Such recording heads are mounted on carriages in ink jet recording apparatuses, to perform recording.
The recording head 1 includes a plurality of contact pads 5 that comes into contact with a contact connector (not illustrated) provided in the carriage in the recording apparatus when the recording head 1 is mounted on the carriage. A driving signal for driving a recording element supplied from the recording apparatus through the contact pads 5 is transmitted to the recording element substrates 2 and 3.
The recording head 1 further includes two guide portions 9 serving as a guide member when mounted on the carriage in the recording apparatus.
Furthermore, the recording head 1 illustrated in FIG. 9 includes an X-direction abutting portion 16, a Y-direction abutting portion 17, and a Z-direction abutting portion 18 such that it is positioned along three axes of an orthogonal coordinate system with respect to the recording apparatus. The abutting portions 16, 17, and 18 are abutted against a positioning reference in a convex shape, for example, provided in the carriage in the recording apparatus.
The recording head 1 turns around an axis passing through the two guide portions 9 when mounted on the carriage so that the contact pads 5 in the recording head 1 come into contact with the contact connector in the carriage and the abutting portions 16, 17, and 18 abut on the positioning reference in the carriage. The contact connector in the carriage can be pushed by the contact pads 5 in the recording head 1. Thus, the recording head 1 is mounted on the recording apparatus.
In recent years, ink jet recording apparatuses have become increasingly miniaturized, and recording heads have been required to be also miniaturized along with the miniaturization of the recording apparatuses.
The recording heads are thus turned and detachably attached to the recording apparatuses, and the contact pads can press the contact connectors. In mounting the recording heads, therefore, contact connectors and contact pads come into contact with each other before the mounting of the recording heads is completed. The contact connectors and the contact pads keep contact with each other in a turning direction of the recording heads, from the time when the contact connectors and the contact pads start to come into contact with each other until the mounting of the recording heads is completed.
Regions where the contact pads thus come into contact with the contact connectors when the recording heads are mounted shall be referred to as contact regions. The contact regions have length components along directions perpendicular to axes serving as rotational centers.
In order to increase the number of contact pads while miniaturizing the recording heads, along with miniaturization of the contact pads, the arrangement densities of the contact pads increase, and the relative lengths of the contact regions increase as to the contact pads.
When the relative lengths of the contact regions as to the contact pads become larger than in the conventional apparatus, the contact regions do not stay within the contact pads, which is a problem. More specifically, the contact pads start to come into contact with the contact connectors in portions (wiring substrates) other than the contact pads with which the contact connectors should come into contact when the recording heads are mounted. Therefore, surfaces of the wiring substrates and the contact pads are damaged so that the electrical reliabilities of the recording heads may be degraded.